Transcript of the meeting of the Trialogue Club International

April 18, 2017

«RUSSIAN APPROACHES TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

IN ADDRESSING SECURITY CHALLENGES IN AFGHANISTAN AND

CENTRAL ASIA»

Viktor L. Vasilyev, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Federation Ministry of

Foreign Affairs, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Federation to the

Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Transcript of the meeting of the Trialogue Club International

April 18, 2017

Viktor Vasilyev:

Dear colleagues. I'll focus on the several ascpects of the Collective Security Treaty

Organization's activity in countering challenges to security in Central Asia and Europe.

You would probably agree that Central Asia is not the most trouble-free region: civil

war in Tajikistan (1990-s), revolutions (in 2005 and 2010) in Kyrgyzstan, fight against

militants from Uzbekistan Islamic movement in Kyrgyzstan in 1999-2000, which is

connected, as experts claim, directly or indirectly with international drug groups. In

Kazakhstan law enforcement agencies also record stirring up of the activities of

emissaries from international terrorist organizations, who recruit and train fighters. And

generally Kazakh territory is viewed by them as some kind of a base for the covert

activities to prepare subversive acts against neighbor states. Old powers in Uzbekistan

and Turkmenistan were able to hold the penetration and influence of extremist and

terrorist groups from Afghanistan territory. Now these borders are becoming

“transparent”, the danger of armed conflict is increasing. Terrorism remains a

destabilizing factor for Central Asian countries, that provokes social and political

tensions and poses a real threat for their security.

Today terrorism has evolved from the practice of killing the representatives of the

authorities to achieving political goals by influencing government structures through

organized large-scale armed violence, directed against civil population. It has gained

the signs of military organizations that is capable of conducting a warfare comparable

in its consequences to the activities of the military forces. All of these makes modern

terrorism similar to such form of political activity as war. Especially dangerous is

possibility that terrorist violence can overflow into local armed conflicts and civil wars

that are accompanied by mass death of civil population, collapse of societal

connections, destruction of state infrastructure, and crimes against humanity. Besides,

the situation in the neighboring states becomes unstable as well. They face at least mass

migration, disruption of interstate connection in the region. Situation in Central Asia is

characterized by the growing risks, increasing negative influence of the conflicts in the

Middle East, active use by extremists and terrorists of the new recruiting technologies

in order to enroll citizens of Central Asian states in their ranks. Local regional problems

contribute to the raise of the popularity of the radical ideology: poverty, youth

unemployment, etc. Attractive is not only the idea of building the “just state”, but also

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April 18, 2017

promises of high salary. The influence of different Wahhabi religious groups and

political-Islamic organizations is increasing. Negative processes are traced in the sphere

of religious education.

Among the main factors contributing to the spread of the terrorism threat in Central

Asia - connection of local terrorist organizations with large international organization

like ISIS, “Al-Qaeda”, “Muslim Brotherhood”, and “Hamas” that support them

financially and help recruiting and train fighters; instability in Afghanistan and

Pakistan, where main bases and training camps of the international terrorists still exist;

presence of the ethnic and territorial tensions in the interstate relations; large expansion

of drug industry in Central Asia and neighboring regions, which is the main source of

finances of terrorism along with other types of trans border crime. Terrorist activity is

on the rise as well.

Therefore, analysis of the separatist and other extremist organizations in Central Asia

shows that it has trans-border character, covering the territories of almost all Central

Asia states, and international terrorist organizations actively participate in it. Its main

goal is destabilization of the general situation in the region to facilitate their coming to

power in these states. Particular danger poses highly possible escalation of violence

with outside support. I would specially emphasize Fergana Valley and its neighboring

regions.

Broad spectrum of threats in Eurasian region is determined by Afghan factor. This

country serves as a starting point for drug trafficking routes, illegal militant groups filter

through to the territory of the neighboring states, illegal migration, and fundamentalist

ideology is being exported. Situation in Afghanistan has a negative influence on the

Central Asian countries and have a stable tendency to aggravation, despite the outside

military support and large-scale financial infusions in the country’s security.

Continuously active are armed antigovernment groups controlling most parts of the

country. Illegal production and trafficking of drugs is increasing, ISIS fighters

“overflow” to Afghanistan. International efforts, aimed at national reconciliation and

stabilization of the conditions in Afghanistan are still without results.

Such state of affairs poses a direct threat to Russia’s security and to the security of its

allies – CSTO members, and requires further coordination of efforts in order to oppose

the challenges and threats coming from Afghanistan territory.

The situation on Tajikistan-Afghanistan border remains to be threatening. The Republic

of Tajikistan having the longest border with Afghanistan, feels challenges and threats,

coming from its territory and is at the forefront of the fight against them.

On September 23, 2013, the Council of Collective Security of CSTO adopter a decision

“On helping the Republic of Tajikistan to secure the border”. It is indeed a complicated

task. The border is longer than 1300 kilometers.

Currently we are very actively working on the recreation of the border infrastructure,

helping Tajik side along the CSTO lines.

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April 18, 2017

At 201st Russian military base, Tajikistan military undergoes training (drilling and

lectures from the representatives of the Ministry of defense).

In this year military and technical experts from the Organization will focus also on the

development of the Special-purpose program on strengthening the Tajikistan-

Afghanistan state border (this is a part of the Decision of the Council of Collective

Security of CSTO from September 23, 2013 – paragraph 4). It is not a simple document,

but, despite the financial situation in the world, such work is necessary. Relevant

evaluations and calculations will be made.

Apart from everything else, Russia has a bilateral agreement with Tajikistan on military

cooperation, signed by Presidents. Within it we deliver arms and military machinery,

which is also used for the strengthening and reinforcement of the military potential

along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border.

In this context, I would like to note, that at the moment CSTO, which includes 6

member-states, is a key instrument for security provision in its zone of responsibility.

This year we celebrate the anniversary. CSTO is 15 and the Collective Security Treaty

is 25. We can speak of definite results of our work. Creation of the Collective Security

Treaty Organization was an important political event for the member-states,

contributing to the strengthening of their political heft and positions in the international

community, provision of stability and security at the international and regional levels.

From the moment of creation, CSTO laid the foundations for the multifunctional

structure of the complex collective security provision. The very essence of CSTO, its

forms of cooperation and claimed positions predefined the real possibility for the

Organization to turn into multifunctional international regional organization.

Fight with international terrorism and extremism was made a priority task by the

decision of the heads of states of CSTO.

At the CSTO meeting in the October of last year, our heads of states confirmed the

Security Strategy of the Organization until 2025. CSTO member-states once again

confirmed that they are ready to build long-term relations based on the principles of

equality of states and indivisibility of security, are ready to further develop the

collective security and regional stability system. At the basis of the implementation of

CSTO strategic goals is the principle of collective security provision via strengthening

of the national security of each member-state. The adoption of the Strategy of

development of our Organization was determined not only by the necessity of the

development of the CSTO collective security system, but also by the increased role of

the Organization in the formation of the security architecture on the Eurasian space,

which demanded more calibrated collective decisions and coordinated efforts from

CSTO member-states.

In particular, document establishes strategic goals for the development of the

Organization, priority directions of cooperation, and particular steps to provide

collective security. It defines threats and challenges, influencing security of the allied

states, among which are: danger of the escalation of the existing and appearance of the

new international and national conflicts; breach of the international agreements and

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April 18, 2017

commitments by certain states; application of the so-called “color revolutions” and

“hybrid warfare” technologies; increase in existing and deployment of the new military

groups at the neighboring to CSTO’s zone of responsibility territories; unilateral

deployment of the global ABM system without paying attention to the interests of other

states, etc. In its turn, Organization is pointed to the provision of the collective interests

of member-states by the way of expanding political cooperation and coordination of

foreign policy positions in the sphere of providing global and regional security, joint

activity on peace strengthening, and international and regional stability.

We think that Additional Measures on Countering International Terrorism and

Extremism adopted by the Presidents are very relevant. They allowed us to adopt the

decision that no other international organization is able to. I am talking here about the

Decision of the Council of Collective Security of CSTO on the formation of a single

list of terrorist groups. It means that if an organization is recognized as a terrorist in one

of the states, it will have the same legal consequences in others.

To support statutory and working organs of the Organization in their administrative and

information and analytical activities, in October 2016 a decision was adopted to create

CSTO Crisis Response Center, that will work in connection with Russian Federation

National Defense Management Center and similar centers that are being created in other

member-states.

Crisis Response Center will contribute to the strengthening of the crisis response

system. Its main task is to allow the Council of Collective Security of CSTO to make

decisions in real time on the joint actions of the member-states on prevention

(management) of the crisis situations in the Organization’s zone of responsibility,

provision of the immediate cooperation between national institutions, heads of the

CSTO working organs and involved ministries and institutions, using protected video

conference systems and electronic document flow.

Within the organization the Working group on Afghanistan under the CSTO Council of

Ministers of Foreign Affairs is created and is efficiently working. Its members are

national coordinators on Afghanistan and representatives of the relative ministries and

institutions of the member-states. In the framework of its activity is a constant

monitoring of the situation in the country and its borders. Representatives of the OSCE

and UN participated in its work.

Under the Committee of the CSTO Security Council Secretaries there are working

groups on the issues of the countering terrorism and illegal migration, informational

policies and security. To execute the decisions adopted in the October of the last year,

the variety of measures is being widened to counter and control for the citizen of our

countries coming back after having undergone training in terrorist camps.

In the framework of the military cooperation, Rapid-deployment Collective Forces of

the Central Asia region are formed. Their maneuvers are being held regularly, including

antiterrorism training.

In order to strengthen antiterror capabilities of the CSTO Rapid-deployment Collective

Forces, they now include special forces, designed for the special antiterror activities.

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April 18, 2017

Systematically CSTO collective security forces are being trained. Joint maneuvers

include antiterror tasks.

CSTO’s activity on the countering the drug trafficking is also worth mentioning. Within

the Organization there is a Coordination Council of the heads of the competent

authorities on the countering the illegal drug trafficking. Since 2003 CSTO is annually

conducting a complex operational and preventive operation “Chanel”, which in 2008

received the status of the constantly active regional anti-drug trafficking operation. It is

aimed at the revealing and blocking the channels of the illegal drug trafficking. In the

framework of the operation for the first time were used materials of the financial

intelligence, which became the first step towards creating financial “security belts”

around Afghanistan. The UN International Narcotics Control Board in 2008 recognized

“Channel” as the most large-scale and efficient program in countering Afghan drug

traffic. Law-enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Columbia,

Estonia, Finland, Iran, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Poland,

Romania, Spain, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, USA, and Venezuela, as well as the

representatives of Interpol, OSCE, and the Eurasian Group on Combating Money

Laundering (EAG) joined the operation as the observers.

The special tactical training exercises of the departments of the anti-narcotics bodies,

internal military forces, law enforcement agencies, and special services of the CSTO

member-states put under CSTO special services under the code name “Thunder”

became regular.

One more direction for the cooperation between CSTO countries according to the

Charter of the Organization is countering the illegal migration from the third countries.

It is with pleasure that I state, that since 2006, when the first joint operation “Illegal

immigrant” was conducted, the performance of the operational and preventive measures

and special operations on countering illegal immigration was enhanced.

Migration services are being active in conducting inspections to control the abidance of

the migration legislation. Border control services increase passport control on the

borders and strengthen border security. Law enforcement authorities (police)

implement the complex of investigative work to reveal and document the illegal activity

of the organizers of the channels for illegal migration and people trafficking. Financial

intelligence agencies are also involved in the operation. Monitoring system of the

contact points is active in order to monitor possible cases of massive refugee flows from

Afghanistan.

Of course, we do not forget about such an important communication platform as

Internet, which provides unique possibilities also for the various terrorist groups for

spreading the radical content. In order to fight the crimes in the informational sphere,

operation “PROXY” (Countering criminal in informational sphere) in constantly

underway in CSTO.

Organization is paying attention to the strengthening of the foreign policy coordination

among member-states. At the meeting of the Council of the Ministries of Foreign

Affairs of CSTO on July 4, 2016, “The collective recommendations to the permanent

representatives of the CSTO member-states at the international organizations”, defining

Transcript of the meeting of the Trialogue Club International

April 18, 2017

the directions of the collective actions of the allied states in the framework of UN,

OSCE, NATO, and other international forums. Following on the Collective

recommendations in 2016 about 20 joint declarations were made on the wide spectrum

of international agenda, especially in the sphere of security, countering the heroization

of Nazism, situation in Siberia, countering terrorism, strengthening the overall stability,

inadmissibility of the unilateral ABDM deployment, prevention of the deployment of

arms in outer space, importance of the results of the Nurnberg process, OSCE

improvement, etc.

The meetings between the representatives of the allied states at the international

organizations and multilateral forums, as well as our ambassadors in the third countries

became systematic.

CSTO constantly stresses the necessity to develop wide cooperation between other

international organizations. Thus, on September 23, 2016 CSTO Secretariat and the UN

Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate signed the Memorandum of

understanding. CSTO Secretariat holds regular meetings with the representatives of CIS

and SCO. Active is the mechanism of the opinions exchange on the wide range of issues

of the mutual interest between the top administrative representatives of CIS, SCO, and

CSTO, which allows to optimize the division of functions on the practical level between

regional organizations responsible for the security provision in Eurasian states. In 2016

the heads of CIS Anti-Terrorism Center, RATS SCO, and the CSTO Secretariat met

together. In the framework of the Russia’s representation in the UN Security Council,

the debates were held with participation of the representatives of CIS, SCO, and CSTO

on the issues of countering terrorism, drug trafficking, and countering the new threats

and challenges in the region.

Since 2009 CSTO is actively cooperating with the OSCE Border Management Staff

College in Dushanbe. The goal of the educational institution is to train field officers

and middle-rank officers from the border security forces of the member-states and

partner states (first of all, Afghanistan), increase effectiveness of the interagency and

interstate cooperation in the sphere of border security and improvement of border

control. CSTO is cooperating with the college by organizing joint lectures and

presentations. Besides, in 2014 in Moscow the consultations were held for the

representatives of CSTO and OSCE Secretariats on the cooperation in providing border

security of Central Asia states, with the participation of College management. During

this training the steps were coordinated of the defining the format of CSTO Secretariat

participation in informing the students of the college on the CSTO activities.

Also, heads of CSTO Secretariat are in constant contact with the Director of the OSCE

Conflict Prevention Centre M. Peŝko. Organization started working with International

Organization for Migration on the development of partnership and giving them the

observer status.

Unfortunately, some of our Western partners keep thinking in the Cold War terms, do

not leave the philosophy of block mentality. Therefore, they tend to view CSTO as a

structure that opposes NATO, or as a Russia-led coalition of countries with an aim of

restoring USSR’s might. I will note that CSTO is open for cooperation on the pressing

issues. We have nor “hidden” agenda, neither “heavy-handed discipline” – all decisions

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April 18, 2017

are adopted by consensus. Several times we announced, that we are ready for

cooperation with Western countries, with NATO. There are challenges, solution of

which, could benefit from our joint efforts – for example, countering the security threats

coming from Afghanistan. I am confident, that joint fight against terrorism and ISIS has

a great potential as well.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the increase in security threats, first of all,

increases the role of CSTO, which is currently the only international organization in the

region that has real capabilities to provide security in the region. Organization has a

working system of crisis response, mechanisms are created that allow us to decrease

the level of threat for the countries in the region.

Combining the forces of all the member-states is the basis for the successful solution of

the complex tasks that they face. Mostly, these tasks are akin to those that international

community faces.

Countering the terrorism and religious extremism in Central Asia is a complex task.

CSTO places a great value on solving it. And it is necessary to underline that CSTO

has a necessary (legally and practically tried) mechanism to collectively counter new

threats and challenges. In the framework of Russia’s initiatives in UN on the creation

of new anti-terrorist coalition the work will continue with international organizations

and other state on the issues of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Central Asia.

We know how to strengthen our collective security. We see how can CSTO contribute

to the provision of peace and stability in Eurasia.